"How do you play the wind chimes? I hear crickets pulse; it sounds like breathing. If it seems that the elephant of memory plays the piano, it's because the speed of the pulsing notes punctuate each moment before sounds vanish in a bright, gray haze. There is a sweetness beyond melancholy in the natural tones of the sounds as if Durand had bumped into an old calliope and discovered that its steam whistles had punctured the keyboard with the sap of new seedlings. The firefly language is based on roots of light. The music dawns on you, in you, all over you. And then you forget who you are and just listen because you are not just listening but experiencing. The sounds of birds blend with the raindrops of piano notes until it seems the birds are singing while playing the piano, or the piano is accompanying the birds."

Seek solace. Be still and drift. Withdraw and be there. There. Inside. A chair awaits. A beginning built from an ending, from leaving, from afar. In times such as these, The Withdrawing Room is a safe haven to leave behind all that weighs heavily and surrounds us. We remark how comfortable the chair is, how exquisite the view is outside the window, the aroma, the breaths to be taken as you become aware of the minutia all around you and the sounds emanating from Mary Lattimore's harp, warming your feet, your hands, your heart. Breathe. Previous collaborations have seen Mary matching wits with such esteemed luminaries as Thurston Moore, Meg Baird, Kurt Vile, Ed Askew, Fursaxa, and Jarvis Cocker. But for this debut work, Mary sequestered herself in a room, much like this one, to kindle three distinct works for keeping the listener company as he or she enjoys the view. The nuanced notes of the harp strings sing and reverberate amid subtle electronics courtesy of Jeff Zeigler on the 24-minute long piece 'You'll Be Fiiinnne;' 'Pluto the Planet' meanders at a slow and steady pace as the sun makes its way across the sky and the gentle plucks of the silk and steel resonate within, beyond; the closing chaos of 'Poor Daniel' charts a recklessness that embraces the listener as he or she quietly makes their way out of the room to tackle the world anew.

Nite Lite is the Portland-based duo of Philip and Myste French. This is their debut, described by Dummy as "Bridging the gap between sci-fi soundtrack and music-box melodies... a topiary of scrupulously arranged organic sounds...". Mastered by James Plotkin. Limited to 300 copies on black vinyl. "A topiary of organic sound. 'Topos,' place. And the ambient surrounds us. The topic: to pick up sounds in your old kit bag for survival; to keep the world alive by clipping and trimming, sculpting shapes out of its sounds. If we can sculpt sound, then we can type on clouds. Clouds are perfect typewriters, the opposite of skin. Sound is organic even when it's the artificial reproduction of cricket music. Even in field recordings, when we are recording in the field, the field is also recording us, reminding us that we breathe in its micro-ambience. How else could we copy infinity? Sounds assembled to resemble nothing like the world that comes from where they came from. There are webs and we below know they will always be un-mappable mazes. This music exists somewhere between sci-fi soundtrack and being inside a music box. It's an aquatic, underwater sound as if the ocean were a seashell (who could lift it?) and through it we could hear the murmurs of invisible whales using sonar to mirror the deeps from our own aquariums. Nite Lite makes us feel safe enough to experience how any night can be a jungle of the possible, and that the experience of listening is a kind of migration from solar to sonar sonata."

"Through the unending fog and beyond the impassable door, a voice emerges. Charlemagne Palestine, writhing in uncontrollable terror, moves to ward off the demons for the sake of the listener by howling through the void. Janek Schaefer bellies a haven, a cocoon for the listener to hide in, to grasp some semblance of life that remains and hold on to it dearly. Bells chime ominously to help dispel the haunting and are yet another stark reminder of the impending doom. What hath wrought them? What can be done against them? On this day, Charlemagne Palestine and Janek Schaefer have faced the darkness surrounding us, traversed through the fog, waded into the murky waters, and encountered demons that have surfaced from the dark recesses of the earth. Herein lies the hope that was gained through facing the horror that was left unchained. Each LP comes with a demon mask that is full color and custom die cut on 12 point card stock with elastic straps."

"Ways of Meaning, Kyle Bobby Dunn's new full-length album and the second release for Desire Path Recordings, is a treatise on the resonance of memory; an attempt to harness the finality of meaning as a shared experience. Mainly arranged for guitar and organ, the six works contained herein offer a look into Dunn's mind as an artist deeply concerned with time, memory, consequence, identity, and meaning. Each piece, while created from and inspired by very personal moments, represents a point of transference, allowing the minutiae of experience to pass through the grooves of the vinyl to the listener to act as a salve for our collective emptiness, a catalyst for solace, or a pathway out of our ever-present longing. Some moments recall church and choral music, others are anthemic in their own quiet way, and sadness finds warm overtones to help quell its cold nature. Spatial qualities are examined thoroughly; clarity is reached when viewing one's surroundings. The environment comes into focus and a reverie encapsulates the listener. Distant memories spawn a sense of yearning and each moment allows for profound feeling." Mastered by James Plotkin.

"Ritual is Solo Andata's third full-length album and also the inaugural release for the Buffalo-based label, Desire Path Recordings. This limited edition 12" LP consists of four glorious sonic 'topographies' that are altogether spellbinding, eerie, visceral and energetic. Ritual, similar to Solo Andata's self-titled album on 12k, is fundamentally made up of organic sounds, such as primitive gongs, bells and bowls, wildlife and environmental recordings, sacred chants, the vibration of human cancerous cells, cleavers, and prepared piano. These four pieces seem to work toward a repetition or 'ritual' between disparate elements so as to transport us, via a magical spell, to dense otherworldly habitats. In fact, the title of the twenty-minute piece 'Incantare' translates as 'to chant' (a magical spell upon), which derives from 'in', into, unto and 'cantare', to sing. For the eight-minute piece 'Carving,' there exists a 'ritualistic' image similar to that of Kafka's In the Penal Colony, where an intricate carving device inscribes the Condemned prisoner's sentence onto his flesh. The whole affair of Ritual is bound to leave listeners mesmerized by its vividness and bewitched by its intensity." Mastered by James Plotkin.